From Lyuda Betina in Belgorod Dnestrovsky (Day 656):
“… Without faith it is impossible to please Him : for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
Yesterday was my dad’s birthday. My father’s name is Nick and he is 85 now. We had a small celebration after the church eating some cake and listening to my dad’s favorite music. My father is a sports fan, he never misses big sport competitions on TV. His favorite sport is biathlon and now is a season of it, he loves watching competitions in Europe. I thank God for my parents and ask the Lord to let them live to see victory. I am very glad that they know the Lord and want to be closer to Him. When we moved in their building to take care of them, Sergey and I brought a part of our library here and my parents began to read our books. They also like to watch the movies of their youth, sometimes we watch them together.
Our counselor Vika came from Odesa to our town for a weekend. She is taking part in a big research project that is going all over Ukraine. This is a study of the emotional and spiritual condition of people during the war. Vika conducted surveys with refugees and church members and it took her a lot of time because testing often turned into counseling when people wanted to talk and share some things.
Vika also led the group meeting and did aroma therapy using strips of paper with different scents (vanilla, citrus, caramel, chocolate, fruity and floral scents), she asked to choose one scent and draw a picture of associations and memories that were provoked by the scent. Our refugees immersed themselves in pleasant memories and shared their feelings. We all enjoyed this time together.
Cold December days become increasingly gloomy as daylight hours get shorter. In the news and other sources of information, we often hear now that Ukraine will lose this war. We keep in touch with many soldiers who are now holding their positions at all costs, while the enemy attacks them more and more. We are preparing Christmas packages for the military and thinking about how to support them in such a difficult time. We send them treats, warm socks, candles and lanterns and other things they need. But most of all we want to share the Christmas message with them and keep their spirits up.
Looking at what is happening in the occupied territories, we do not even want to think that our country could lose the war and Russia would gain control over us. Every night missiles fly at us, and although our air defense skillfully shoots them down, there are still hits. Another of the many problems we have now is the blockade of the western border. Polish truck drivers have been blocking the border with Ukraine for two months now preventing our trucks from carrying goods. They were joined by drivers from other European countries. It suppresses our economy, which is still barely breathing. On the one hand, Russia is killing us, and on the other hand, we are literally being destroyed economically. We are grateful that we have food and are not starving, but the choice of food and other things in stores is becoming smaller and prices are rising.
Reflecting on all our problems, we only realize more deeply that all our hope is in the Lord. We are preparing a Christmas program in the church and the performance will include a skit based on the episode from Kings 6 when Elisha helped people to see the army of God protecting them from the Syrians. We all need to pray for the ability to see with our spiritual vision and trust God in the most desperate situations.
As the day draws to a close and our church gathers for our daily evening prayer, it is the time for us to support each other and talk to God revealing Him all our worries and pains. We pray for many things: for our brave soldiers, for our country, for spiritual awakening and for many other things. In the midst of so much adversity, we are privileged to see God answer our prayers and open the hearts of people. God teaches us to be patient in tribulation and to be steadfast in prayer because He does amazing things.
Thank you for standing with us in prayer.
Thank you for you support.
Please, send your donations to Pathway Ministries
E. Langston Haygood,D.Min.,Ph.D.
Pathway Ministries, Inc.
288 Huntington Parc Circle
Birmingham, AL 35226
(205)835-3325
http://www.pathwayministriesinc.com
In Christ,
Lyuda
Voice of Ukraine 
6 responses to “12/12/2023 – We all need to pray for the ability to see with our spiritual vision and trust God in the most desperate situations”
Dear Lyuda,
We always appreciate receiving updates from you, may God continue to bring you all comfort and joy in these difficult times!
And May God show His Great power in bringing victory for Ukraine!
Through this, I pray many will follow Christ!
Please know Ukraine is continuously in our thoughts and prayers.
Love in Christ,
Jill
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I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807-1882
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From: Sergei Nakul (pastor of Big City Church in Kyiv and military chaplain):“Rejoice for the Earth!” Christ has come! Welcome the King of kings! “. Praise is in Big City Church, Kyiv – Церква Великого Міста, Київ ! Let not the darkness of war overshadow the holiday of Christmas, but the light of Christmas Christ illuminates the darkness of war and warms us with the warmth of hope. Because Christ is our hope. A living hope. Have a blessed Advent!
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12/18/2022:
From Lyuda: Dear brothers and sisters,
We are doing well and thank God for His love and protection. Yesterday morning we heard two loud sounds of explosions and we knew that it was the work of our air defense, because when they destroy the rockets in the air the land doesn’t shake, just a loud sound. It’s strange but my neighbors said they heard three sounds and we heard only two. Later in the net we saw the photo of the fragments of one of the rockets that fell somewhere here. It’s amazing that during these months no rocket fell on our town, though many things were coming here. By the grace of God our air defense destroy them all. Many buildings are destroyed in our beach zone that is 30 km away but God keeps us safe.
Our support group met yesterday and we were glad to have new people. We always start with introductions, greetings and people share the news of their week. Then we talked about Christmas.
In our culture people are so much concentrated on traditions, on food and on other things that true meaning of Christmas is often left out. After they shared how they usually celebrate this wonderful holiday we read Scripture and talked about the meaning of all the events of Christmas story.
After the meeting one man from the group asked about Bible, I gave him my Bible to read this week and at our next meeting we will make gifts for everybody including Bibles.
Sergey visited a family from our church who were refugees in 2014, they came to our town from Donetsk. They both are disabled in wheelchairs. They met here, got married and their little daughter was born four years ago. It’s hard for them to travel to the church so Sergey visits them at home. They are always looking forward to Sergey’s visit and have many questions. Yesterday they talked about family communication.
We wish you a good worship day.
In Christ,
Lyuda
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Dear Lyuda,
Praise the Lord you are all okay, continuing to pray for protection over BD and for this war to end!
Love in Christ,
Jill
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